Montpellier’s cultural and creative industry counts over 2,000 employees and is expanding constantly, notably thanks to a local ecosystem that helps companies start out and grow. Here’s how.
The greater Montpellier area is a haven for the cultural and creative industries (CCIs), which explains why so many French and international studios continue to set up shop here. Newcomers include Fortiche Animation, created by Parisian studio Fortiche, which is embarking on an “ambitious” 3D animation project. L.A.-based dubbing studio The Kitchen.tv works with the likes of Netflix and has set up its French branch in the nearby town of Lattes. And that’s not all.
A dynamic metropolitan ecosystem
Montpellier’s dynamic metropolitan ecosystem is what really draws studios into town. Every branch of the CCIs is represented: video games with Ubisoft, cinema and series with France Télévision’s studios in the nearby town of Vendargues, digital audio specialists with rare gems such as Netia, not to mention 3D animation with various studios like Dwarf Animation spearheading the market.
A strong school network
The city also boasts a strong network of schools, spearheaded by two leaders in terms of education for the CCIs: The Rookies ranked ArtFX the world leader for the special effects category, and dubbed ESMA (École Supérieure des Métiers Artistiques) world leader for the 3D animation category. Not only do Montpellier’s top-quality schools feed local companies with employees; the world’s biggest studios regularly come to town to recruit talented personnel. That explains why Montpellier-trained professionals now work for the likes of Weta Digital, ILM, Double Negative and The Mill studio. Each year, the studio’s artistic directors are even part of both schools’ graduation juries.
Creative actors
Montpellier’s schools certainly contribute to the city’s reputation as a bastion of the CCIs, but local studios also pull their share of the weight. Their sheer creativity is now clearly recognised, as illustrated by animated film Josep, which was part of the official selection for the 2020 Cannes Film Festival: the film was produced by Montpellier-based studio Les Films d'Ici Méditerranée and its compositing was entirely handled by local studio Les Fées Spéciales.
After its release on 30 September 2020, Josep was nominated for an animation film award by the European Film Academy, was awarded “Best Screenplay” at Athens International film Festival and received the “Audience’s Choice” award at the International Historical Film Festival. The film also received stunning reviews: “Josep delves deep into human history and drama, which goes to show that animation can be a great way of addressing serious issues,” reports France Info.
Thriving CCIs
The video game sector is also thriving: “Five of the thirty to forty games presented at the 2020 edition of Jeux Made in France (French gaming event) came from the greater Montpellier region. This is no small feat,” emphasises François Cubaynes, the general delegate of PushStart. PushStart, an association for gaming professionals in France’s Occitanie region, co-organised the event for the first time this year.
Montpellier is home to a myriad of gaming studios, including The Game Bakers, Plugin Digital, Wysilab and Alt Shift, as well as internationally renowned personalities like Eric Chahi, the creator of legendary game Another World and current head of Pixel Reef, not to mention Michel Ancel, the father of Rayman.
As for the audio-visual sector, Un Si Grand Soleil regularly sets audience records. Filmed at the France Télévision studios in Vendargues, this series draws more than 4 million viewers each day.
What about audio?
The local audio sector is also very lively, featuring music creators such as Christophe Héral, audio book publishers like Soladar and Benjamins Média, recording studios, music labels (Kiwi Records), and of course software (Drumstik Assistant Drummer) and hardware (Earsonics) designers. “In Montpellier, the audio sector is fed and boosted by every subsector of the CCIs,” underlines Benoît Illinger, secretary general and creator of Coodio, a unique body composed of France’s radio, sound and voice professionals.
Cité Créative: Symbol of the city’s commitment
Very early on, Montpellier Métropole decided to support this local ecosystem strongly and create all of the right conditions for CCIs to thrive. Not only does the city boast a clear-cut infrastructure for welcoming and assisting new businesses, it also hosts specialised events and meetings, such as the MICC or C dans le Son, in partnership with Montpellier BIC, affiliated startups and Coodio.
Most importantly, Montpellier Métropole launched Cité Créative, a creative hub that truly embodies Montpellier’s support for the CCIs. “The Cité Créative allows Montpellier to shine as a hotspot for the CCIs. It symbolises our city’s will to account for the needs and expectations of key players in the field. It sends out a real message and helps Montpellier stand out from any other city”, explains Karim Khenissi, the president of the Icônes group. In fact, Icônes recently inaugurated its Campus Créatif: a creative campus in the Cité Créative that welcomes four of the group’s schools, including ESMA.
And that’s only the start of it: “CCIs will continue to grow in Montpellier," states Gilbert Kiner, founder of the ArtFX design school. He also points out another one of the area's advantages: “The fact that local universities are involved further boosts CCIs.” It certainly looks like the Montpellier area is set to remain a hotspot for the cultural and creative industries.
Still students, but already swimming in awards!
Every year, ArtFX and ESMA reap the rewards of their teaching efforts, as their students collect a flurry of prizes for their films. 2020 was no exception: on October 30, ArtFX was there to congratulate Adrien Deschenau, Raphaël Dufour, Corentin L'Hostis, and Florian Marvie – among the school’s other award-winning students – for directing LINE 21 - Short Film and earning the “Audience’s Choice” award at 1ère Marche Film Festival. A few days earlier, Opale - Short film won 3rd prize for the “Student Films” category at the Alexandre Trauner ART/Film Festival.
ESMA also had a fruitful year: the film Œil pour Œil won several awards, including one at the Encounters Film Festival (England), two at the Sapporo International Short Film Festival (Japan) and 1st prize in the “Best Animation” competition during the 2020 Kingston Canadian Film Festival. Avec le Do de la Cuillère won “Best Animation”, while For a fistful of Toffees won a special mention for “Best Set Design” at the last MovieValley International Film Festival (Italy) and 1st prize at the Panam Anim Festival.